Humility

Few things in this world make me overly anxious, it’s just not in my personality. One of the things that does, however, is having a deadline to meet and not having any clue how to make sure that everything is in place by that day. That is the situation that Liz and I now find ourselves in. We have set a date for returning to Tanzania, but have had difficulty in raising the funds needed to return and live for a year. To be honest, right now we have enough for the place tickets and...the plane tickets (thank you to the people and churches that have provided that support, plane tickets half way around the world are not cheap). This anxiousness is what was going through my mind when we entered St. Paul United Methodist Church in Fort Smith, AR. We had been invited to speak at their Wednesday night dinner and program that they have once a month. Naturally the food was good, but Liz and I both were having trouble focusing. We stood up to share what went on at Angel House the four months we were there and why we think we need to return.


The experience that followed was humbling to say the least. Not only were our experiences and stories well received, something that feels good because they are such a part of who we are, but there was a response in the group present. The follow up questions showed real interest and then to wrap up the associate minister stood up. He started them passing the hat, actually a hat, a baseball cap, and then did something that we have not had done for us at any other church we have spoken at. The group came up and prayed for us. It was a blessing to see God doing something in that church that we felt only marginally a part of, because His actions were so clear that night. It was...humbling and reassuring. Humbling to be a part of a movement bigger than we are, humbling to be used to move people, and reassuring to know that a church can still act like a church and send us off with the thing we need the most, prayer.

Thank you St. Paul for participating in that experience with us and for the support you showed. Thank you to all the other churches and individuals who have also responded as we have shared this summer. Thank you to a God big enough to move mountains and small enough to allow us to be involved in it.

What makes humility so desirable is the marvellous thing it does to us; it creates in us a capacity for the closest possible intimacy with God.

-Monica Baldwin